Ground‐Water Mounding Due to On‐Site Sewage Disposal
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 109, Issue 2
Abstract
Localized ground‐water mounding beneath larger on‐site sewage disposal fields (leach fields) may be a major problem which previously had not been adequately addressed. Existing methods to predict mounding, mainly developed for ground‐water recharge spreading basins, are reviewed for applicability to sewage disposal fields. A most appropriate and accurate method is selected and considerably simplified to provide a convenient, straightforward prediction procedure for regulatory agencies and designers. The major simplification, to a single equation, is particularly accurate after longer wastewater application times, of say 10 to 20 years, when mounding is of most concern. Sensitivities of the procedure to the various simplifications, site factors, and design and management options are discussed and presented in graphical form where significant. Alternative means to reduce mounding are reviewed. Mounding problems and potential mitigation measures should be made more widely known, and long‐term field verification of the theory is needed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Amar, A. C., “Theory of Ground‐Water Recharge for a Strip Basin,” Ground Water, Vol. 13, No. 3, May–June, 1975, pp. 282–292.
2.
Bianchi, W. C., and Haskell, E. E., Jr., “Field Observations Compared with Dupuit‐Forchheimer Theory for Mound Heights under a Recharge Basin,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 4, No. 5, Oct., 1968, pp. 1049–1057.
3.
Bianchi, W. C., and Muckel, D. C., “Ground‐Water Recharge Hydrology,” Report No. ARS 41–161, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., Dec., 1970.
4.
“Design Manual‐On‐Site Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Systems,” SCS Engineers, and Rural Systems Engineering, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct., 1980.
5.
Dewalle, F. B., “Failure Analysis of Large Septic Tank Systems,” Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 107, No. EE1, Proc. Paper 16053, Feb., 1981, pp. 229–240.
6.
Fielding, M. B., “Ground Water Mounding Under Leaching Beds,” Proceedings of the Third National Symposium on Individual and Small Community Sewage Treatment, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Publication 1‐82, 1982, pp. 215–222.
7.
Freeze, R. A., and Cherry, J. A., Groundwater, Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1979.
8.
Hantush, M. S., “Growth and Decay of Groundwater‐Mounds in Response to Uniform Percolation,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, first quarter, 1967, pp. 227–234.
9.
Luthin, J. N., Drainage Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1973.
10.
“Manual of Septic Tank Practice,” Publication No. 526, Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., 1967.
11.
Marino, M. A., “Growth and Decay of Groundwater Mounds Induced by Percolation,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 22, Aug., 1974, pp. 295–301.
12.
Marino, M. A., “Water‐Table Fluctuation in Response to Recharge,” Journal of the Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE, Vol. 100, No. IR2, Proc. Paper 10582, June, 1974, pp. 117–125.
13.
Okeke, A. C., Converse, J. C., Tyler, E. J., and Bubenzer, G. B., “Spacing of Curtain Drains on Sloping Land for On‐Site Soil Absorption System,” Proceedings of the Third National Symposium on Individual and Small Community Sewage Treatment, Publication 1‐82, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1982, pp. 273–281.
14.
Otis, R. J., “Design of Pressure Distribution Networks for Septic Tank‐Soil Absorption Systems,” Report No. 9.6, Small Scale Waste Management Project, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc., Jan., 1981.
15.
Rao, N. H., and Sarma, P. B. S., “Growth of Ground Water Mound in Response to Recharge,” Ground Water, Vol. 18, No. 6, Nov.–Dec., 1980, pp. 587–595.
16.
Senn, C. L., “State of the Art Manual of On‐Site Wastewater Management,” National Environmental Health Association, Denver, Colo., June, 1979.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 ASCE.
History
Published online: Jun 1, 1983
Published in print: Jun 1983
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.